Neighbors question proposed changes to Riverview Terrace Park; alderman schedules meeting

Mayor Pro Tem and an alderman announced a neighborhood meeting to review final plans for parking at Riverview Terrace Park (meeting scheduled for March 20, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers). The project plan would add marked parking spaces at park entrances along Clay Street near Washington Street and aims to balance neighborhood input with public access.

At the Committee of the Whole meeting on March 19, 2025, resident Cheryl Shragner (Third Ward) and another neighborhood speaker urged the council to leave the park’s temporary rock barriers in place. Shragner said the rocks have reduced daytime disorder and that police calls to the park have declined since the barriers were installed. She asked the council to address adjacent street traffic (suggesting a stop sign at Washington and Clay) and to consider repairing erosion and drainage that is damaging the west end of the park before spending on sidewalk relocation. Shragner characterized the park as historically important and said neighborhood residents enjoy recent improvements.

Alderman noted the neighborhood meeting and invited residents to attend; the meeting is intended to review final designs for parking access and to gather neighborhood input before work proceeds. No formal council action on the park designs occurred at the Committee of the Whole meeting; the item will be discussed at the neighborhood meeting and may return to a future council agenda.